To be young, male and black in America means not being allowed to make mistakes. Forgetting this, as we’ve seen so many times, can be fatal.
So begins When youthful mistakes turn deadly, a powerful column in the Washington Postthat went on line last evening.
Michael Brown made at least one mistake - walking in the middle of the road.   That he controlled.  But of course that is not a capital offense.
It is well-written piece which you should read, although I would quibble with Robinson that Brown "took" the cigars since (a) we now have the full video, and know that when he realized he did not have enough to pay for all only took those he paid for; (b) the lawyer for the store has said that no one from the store called the police to notify them of the incident; and, most importantly, (c) even the Ferguson police chief has now acknowledged that Officer Wilson had no knowledge of the incident when he shot Brown.
Here is another brief example of Robinson's cogent writing:  
When Officer Darren Wilson stopped him, did Brown respond with puffed-up attitude? For a young black man, that
When I was growing up in the 50s. at the time of the beginnings of the Civil Rights era, a period extending far longer than it should have been necessary, the term used was not "puffed-up attitude" but "uppity" mean that "N***er" did not "know his place" and the result could often be fatal - ask Emmett Till.
I have few more excerpts to offer and a few more observations of my own to share.  If you  
If you are concerned about poverty
If you are concerned about poverty: If you are concerned about povertybyteacherkenFollow    1 Comments / 1 NewI strongly suggest you read this blog post by my professional colleague Mike Rose of UCLA written in tribute to his co-author and colleague Mike Katz, who just passed away.Some of you may remember Public Education Under Siege, my review of the book of that title produced by the two Mikes,
by mike simpson / 12h